Albus Potter and the Rose of Slytherin
by alchemypotato
Summary: Best friends and cousins Albus Potter and Rose Weasley are starting their first year at Hogwarts but may find themselves soon torn apart by different houses.
1. Chapter 1 - A New Friend

Albus Severus Potter awoke from a nightmare. It was the same nightmare that had plagued him all summer: finally attending Hogwarts and being sorted into Slytherin. He saw the shame he would bring to his family, his older brother James hanging his head. He knew his dad had said that being a Slytherin wasn't so bad and that he was named after a brave man who was a Slytherin and that the sorting hat would take his opinion into consideration, but he didn't want to be a Slytherin. He supposed he wanted to be in Gryffindor just like his father, grandfather and older brother but he would take anything as long as it wasn't Slytherin.

And who was Severus Snape, really? His dad rarely talked about him but he knew Neville Longbottom didn't like him. In fact he hated him and didn't seem to approve that his dad had dared to name him after him. They used to fight about it but they didn't talk about it much anymore. But Albus always worried it would come up.

But if he was so brave he must be a good guy, right? But that didn't make any sense to Albus. Maybe Gryffindor's valued bravery too much.

"You okay, Al?" his cousin Rose asked him. She was the only other person in the cabin on the Hogwarts Express with him. James was off with his friends and they didn't always get along that well anyway. He and Rose were the same age and had always been close. The summer before, when they were both ten, Rose had confessed to him and only him that she was gay. Albus in turn admitted that he knew he liked boys as well as girls. He didn't see that anyone's gender really mattered. This had brought them closer than ever as they felt only comfortable keeping these secrets between them this last year.

"Yeah. Had a nightmare."

Rose nodded. Her bushy red hair bouncing across her brown eyes. "Slytherin?"

"Yeah…" Albus said, trailing off.

"I'm sure Slytherin isn't so bad, Al. I mean they are ambitious, not evil, right?" Rose asked.

"Voldemort was a Slytherin and so were most of his followers," Albus responded, defensively.

"I just don't think ambition has to be a bad thing. It can be good to be ambitious," Rose said.

"Not if it means cheating or manipulating other people. I think you should work hard and play fair if you want to succeed," Albus said and Rose said no more.

Just then a girl with short, cropped black hair, thick horn rimmed glasses and brown skin popped into the cabin, somewhat clumsily.

"Hello," she said nervously.

"Hi," Albus said. "I'm Albus but everyone calls me Al. This is my cousin Rose."

"Hi," Rose said and shook the girl's hand.

"I'm Neela. Neela Brown-Patil. You're Harry Potter's son right?" she asked and sat across from them.

"He's my dad, yeah."

"Cool," she said smiling.

"I guess. I mean… he's my dad," Albus answered awkwardly.

"Well, I mean it's cool because he went to school with my mums. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil."

"Lavender Brown? I think my dad dated her," Rose said.

"Of course! You're a Weasley! Ron Weasley's kid right?" Neela said, her enthusiasm unending.

"Yep. Your mums would've gone to school my mum as well. Hermione Granger."

"Cool," Neela answered. "So what houses do you want?" she asked looking back and forth at them.

"Gryffindor, I guess," Albus asked. "Our whole family are Gryffindors."

"Yeah," Rose said. "I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw or even Slytherin though."

Al twitched at the mention of Slytherin. He tried to put it out of his mind. They would both end up in Gryffindor. There was nothing to worry about.

"I'm gonna be a Hufflepuff!" Neela said.

"Why do you say that?" Rose asked. "The hat chooses, not you."

"Oh I know that. But I'm just confident that Hufflepuff is where I belong. My mums were Gryffindors just like you're parents but I'm not one for bravery. Hard work and loyalty sound just fine to me."

Al had to admit they sounded just fine to him as well. And at least it wouldn't be Slytherin.

"Yeah, Hufflepuff wouldn't be bad," Albus admitted. Neela smiled at him. Just then someone walked by the cabin door. He looked inside the cabin briefly and caught Al's eye. It was Scorpius Malfoy. He had seen him earlier at Platform 9 and 3/4. He was the son of a man named Draco Malfoy his father went to school with. He looked just like his father but something about him seemed gentler, sweeter, and perhaps more attractive.

"Al?" Rose said waving her hand across his face.

"Oh, sorry." He had apparently been staring off for longer than he thought.

"Cute boy?" Neela asked.

Al was stunned into silence. Rose looked at him intently. To his own surprise he answered, "Yeah."

Neela looked pleased. "Cool," she said and Al was sure they were going to be great friends.


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome to Slytherin

Neela and Al had spent the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts talking and getting to know each other. Rose thought it was nice Al had made a new friend but she sort of wished they had got to take the ride alone. Neela was nice but sometimes Rose didn't feel up to interacting with strangers. Actually, it was most of the time. And Neela's presence had just made the train ride stretch on forever.

But now they had to stopped. It was dark and they had just been informed to leave their luggage on the train. Neela and Albus shuffled out of the cabin and Rose followed them off the train where a very large man, who they knew from their parents many stories was called Hagrid, called out "Firs' years!"

They had heard so much about the big man but had never actually had an opportunity to meet him. Rose knew he was half-giant (although it had been a secret when her parents had attended the school) but she still was shocked at how big he was. He was easily more than twice her size.

Within minutes Rose, Albus, Neela, and a quiet, pale skinned girl had piled into a boat that carried them across the lake and eventually through a dark tunnel which led to a underground harbor. Shortly, thereafter Hagrid knocked on a door and Rose got a surprise when Neville Longbottom was there. She wasn't used to seeing him in his Professor's robes.

She had always though Uncle Neville was… kind of cool. But in his robes he didn't really look as cool. It was nice to see a familiar face though. She looked over at her cousin and saw that Albus was simply beaming. He and Neville had always been close but that was probably because of the close relationship he had with his parents. Neville smiled at them both in acknowledgement then gestured inside the castle.

"This way. Welcome to Hogwarts," he said with a friendly smile.

A short time later they were walking into the Great Hall, preparing to be sorted. Rose could see Albus was nervous. She didn't understand why he was so afraid of Slytherin. Sure lots of dark wizards had been Slytherins, but most Slytherins didn't end up dark wizards and there were plenty of dark wizards who weren't Slytherins. Rose could see no fault with being ambitious.

Rose also couldn't help but notice that Malfoy boy kept looking at Albus. Albus on the other hand didn't notice. She thought that it didn't matter. Soon Scorpius would be in Slytherin and she and I would probably be in Gryffindor just like the rest of their family.

As the first years were called one by one Rose tried to predict where they would all be sorted. Rose was certain that a blonde, curly haired girl named Molly Ashby would be a Ravenclaw but was sorted into Gryffindor. Neela Brown-Patil was sorted into Hufflepuff as she predicted (poor, Al, losing his new friend already.) A tall and thick brown skinned boy named Callum Gould was sorted into Slytherin. Keira Kershaw was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Finally, Scorpius Malfoy had his turn to be sorted. Rose watched as Albus watched intently as Malfoy sat beneath the Sorting Hat for longer than expected before calling out, "Hufflepuff!" Albus gasped. Rose was shocked as well. As far as they knew Malfoy's were always Slytherins.

Albus turned to Rose and said, "It's almost my turn. I want in Hufflepuff. Both Neela and Scorpius are in Hufflepuff now."

Looking over Rose saw that Scorpius was now seated next to Neela who waved over at them.

When Neville called Albus's name, Rose leaned over and said, "Good luck, Al."

"Thanks," he replied and walked to the hat and put it on.

Almost immediately, the hat called out, "Hufflepuff!" Neela stood up and clapped as Al ran over to his new friend in excitement. Rose was happy for him and wondered if she might be sorted into Hufflepuff as well. She didn't really care as long as it was the best house for her.

Being a Weasley, Rose was the last to be sorted in their year. Rose sat on the stool and placed the hat on her head.

"Oh, another Weasley. Should we just put you in Gryffindor? Hmm. No there's something more here. There is a touch of bravery in you… but you're a loyal friend… but you have ambition. Slytherin might suit you."

I don't care, Rose thought. Put me wherever will help me the most.

"Hmm… okay…. Slytherin!"

There were shocked faces everywhere. Neville Longbottom looked heartbroken. Rose felt uncomfortable. She was fine with being in Slytherin but she didn't want to disappoint everyone. Al looked on the verge of tears and Neela hugged him while Scorpius just looked down.

Rose walked over Slytherin table and sat next to the quiet, pale skinned girl who had been on the boat.

"Hi," Rose said. The girl looked up at her briefly and gave a small smile then looked away. A black girl on the other side of her reached over and extended a hand to Rose.

"I'm Chloe Zabini," she said. "Welcome to Slytherin."


End file.
